Walking the Metropolitan Line - Finchley Road to Northwood
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- Опубликовано: 6 сен 2017
- Walking in Metroland - A walk following the Metropolitan Line across north west London from Finchley Road to Northwood via Wembley Park, Preston Road, Northwick Park, Harrow-on-the-Hill, North Harrow, Pinner, Northwood Hills.
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Music
Retro Dreamscape by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (creativecommons.org/licenses/...)
Source: www.twinmusicom.org/song/283/r...
Artist: www.twinmusicom.org
Backed Vibes Clean - Rollin at 5 by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (creativecommons.org/licenses/...)
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-...
Artist: incompetech.com/
Hydra by Huma-Huma
Lithium by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (creativecommons.org/licenses/...)
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Please watch: "Walk from St.Paul's through Islington to Highgate"
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How can anyone bear to live next to the North Circular? Some great Arts and Crafts and modernist houses out there.
+Borderlands I know must be like smoking 40 cigarettes a day. I'm going to walk it one day when I work up the courage
John thank you for your walk, if you ever come back to Harrow have a walk up to harrow public school its another world up there, its so different.
thanks carol - I'd love to go back at some point, perhaps in the summer
Yes there are definitely two Harrows - the ancient Harrow (on the hill) and the sprawling new town downhill.
Grim view of the North Circular - I drove this way for 10 years to get to Park Royal from north London. Seldom an uplifting experience.
Another Marathon walk. Fab film. Moody, humorous, engaging and educational. Many thanks John. 👍😊
thanks for the kind words David
I'm sure there were also Metroland posters along the Central Line and eastern District Line back in the day too. Part of the 1930s regeneration boom slap bang in the middle of the First (so called Great!) and the Second (not sure what it's collectively called to be honest!). Barkingside Station is worth a 3 minute video if you're ever that way John. The nicest most gentleman like Gents ye shall find there. IF they're still open......!
"A bit of underpass action" Oh, how I love this channel.
thanks jacek
And its alive with rats down there outside the supermarket.
i guess Im randomly asking but does anyone know of a method to log back into an instagram account?
I was dumb forgot my login password. I would appreciate any tips you can give me!
Next time you happen to be in the neck of the woods some people call Harrow on the Hill please allow an hour or two for a compact wonder around the Harrow on the Hill School campuses. History and Architecture, plus Nature's Natural Topography and Fauna, to a certain degree, of the highest accord await us. But I feel you will end up educating US All as per your Usual Fayre: an educational and conscious entertainment of the highest accord your RUclips Channel is. Twenty Miles is a long walk John. God Speed Sir...
Struggling to think of any pubs in Northwood, there must be one worthy of visiting.
Thank you for taking us on another really interesting walk.
Pinner Court is absolutely beautiful. I wish they built things looking that gorgeous nowadays
My pleasure - it was a really rewarding walk - think I'll return to walk out from Northwood towards Watford
Pinner is the sort of place where I can imagine Nikolaus Pevsner sat in a cafe going over his notes. Lovely looking buildings. I came across this, rather than from memory:
There was an old person of Pinner,
As thin as a lath, if not thinner;
They dressed him in white, and roll'd him up tight,
That elastic old person of Pinner.
Edward Lear (1872)
The combination of your passion for seeing our environment, built or otherwise, combined with the ambient drone of the excellent background track is a treat. Thanks a lot.
Thanks Mark
Excellent John. When I first saw Pinner , it was nothing like I remembered but then the more familiar old part started to ring a few bells. Remember going to the Pinner Fair every year and there used to be a posh tea shop there as well. My sister was born at Northwick Park Hospital so that was good to see also.
Thanks Stu - I'll have to go back and head over Rayners way and Eastcote - jog a few more memories for you
Who remembers the sinner from Pinner?!
Lived just by West Harrow Station, which is really just a halt. My primary school was there; Diane Abbott was in the year below me. Went to grammar school in Northwood Hills; was there for seven years so that is one very familiar station. Elton John used to play piano in the Northwood Hills Hotel opposite the station.
My late mother was a secretary at Northwick Park Hospital when it first opened.
Pinner Fair. We schoolboys were always trying to get into the tent to see the Bearded Lady but never succeeded.
I'm not sure that Chalfont to Chesham isn't longer. We moved there at the end of my second year at grammar school but by some mysterious parental sleight of hand I didn't change schools and Bucks County Council picked up the tab for my bus and rail tickets. Wouldn't happen now.
Great London countryside views.thx a lot!
12:57 - Not the crest of Harrow I'm afraid. Not sure what it is. Harrow is a big place, you could do a walk along the Piccadilly line to see a bit more of it. Keep up the good work.
The Metroline building was the HQ for the bus company. Many buses that start from Harrow on the Hill, like the 182, are owned by Metroline. They must have moved premises and that is the company's crest.
Great walk, Thanks for sharing.
thanks Darrell
Recently moved from my beloved Kings Cross to Watford and I'm doing the same walks myself. Metland is studded with little gems to discover.
that's quite a move - but so much to explore out Watford Way
Thank you for that; I enjoyed your comments, both vocal and onscreen, especially the name-meanings (and the video itself, of course!). Re the end of the cricket season, it still is a sad, poignant occasion, for me - as though summer were just waiting for permission to put its sight-screens away and close the pavilion.
I also enjoyed the music; it seemed I could detect influences of Tangerine Dream (a bit) and a lesser-known group called The Necks, plus something else I can't quite identify. Congratulations on a very (to me) long walk!
Just reached back in time to watch this - excellent stuff!
Ah this was a great walk, thanks Timothy
Great walk1923 the year of the first cup final at wembley , my grandfather was one of the two hundred thousand that watched the game, probably the station was built to serve the stadium
I spent many a grim year commuting to Northwick Park.
Not the prettiest of stations either. I recall on one frosty morning a couple of policemen were gathered around the tree on the far left of the screen at 11.36. They had just cut down a dead body of a student that hanged himself. He was at their feet covered in a blanket with his feet protruding out.
Over the coming weeks friends and family tied notes up on the tree, and a picture of his life slowly emerged from them. Very sad
that's a very sad story - the campus does seem a bit isolated
I was born at Northwick Park, but regards the station it has one of the highest suicide rates on the underground.
bloody hell, that's a grim statistic to add to the other records this stretch of the Metropolitan Line holds - longest distance between stations and highest station
Don't get me started on the hospital.. has a reputation for going in and not coming out! My Dad died there, and i got treated there myself for a stomach problem, they gave me the wrong drugs and nearly killed me! They only found out when I wasn't responsive and they checked the records and realised they should have given them to someone else 😏 still going through the courts but stalled cos of Covid. Only went there because they've practically closed Central Middlesex Hospital.. anyway rant over, thanks for listening 😃
It's sometimes hard to accurately gauge the lengths of your walks, John, but in this one we can really hear it in your voice by the end! - Plus, I grew up in Pinner and Harrow, hence I know these roads intimately and so this time I also have a genuine sense of what a truly mammoth walk that was! - If I remember rightly a V2 landed very close to Pinner Court during WW2. I went to school with the actress, Jane March - the "Sinner from Pinner" - you would have passed our school on the corner of the road just down past Pinner Court and the Fire Station. West Harrow Tube station, which you mention, is also very low key; but Rayners Lane on that branch of the Met Line is a real gem, plus the truly fantastic old Art Deco cinema building there is worth a look at too. Used to love going there as a kid. Sadly, no longer a cinema, but rather more curiously its now the London HQ of the Zoroastrians. That underpass in Harrow was truly Ballardian when it first opened c.mid-90s, always felt like you were risking your life going down there even in the day time. Think it seems to get a bit more footfall these days and has been opened up a bit more too, so maybe not quite the same vibe nowadays(?). A detour up to explore the hill at Harrow is well worth it, if you've not done so yet. It's like another world up there altogether - neither Metroland nor suburbia, but something altogether more sublime. Lots of little alleyways and hidden open spaces and some fab architecture, Church founded by St. Anselm, plus the tomb where Byron sat and wrote some of his early poems - and a lovely pub, The Castle. Perfect place to end a leisurely perusal of the Hill.
So many little nuggets from this walk! Two stand out:
1. The Railway Tavern pub in West Hampstead is a historic building, mainly with it's connection to the adjoining building round the corner - the old Decca recording studio on Broadhurst Gardens. Many great pop hits from the 60s were recorded there, like Matthew and Son, She's Not There etc. It's also where the Beatles had their failed audition! A lot of the label's artists played out in the Tavern, and apparently it was here in 1966 that Eric Clapton, while playing with the Graham Bond Organisation with Ginger Baker, met Jack Bruce and soon after formed Cream.
2. Only yesterday I walked under the 'Three Bridges of Kilburn' (Metropolitan, Chiltern and Jubilee in order of age), and thought: 'I wonder if John Rogers has seen this?' 😁
EDIT:
3. You MUST do a Brent river walk, if you haven't already! Long one though, starts somewhere in Herts. and meets the Thames in Brentford.
Dewar John, if you want to trump Northwood Tube, please allow a half hour stopover at Barkingside Station next time. And if you've got an extra hour or so please take a wonder into the Barnardo Village and seek out the Fountains, the Benches and the Sun Dial. If you can get into the church we would love also to see the Infant Pews, as desginated by the Barnardo Administrators back in the Victorian Times. For those unaware, Barnardo Village is the site of the first Orphanage for girls (0 to 18 I think) as set up by Dr Barnardo around the time that Charles Dickens was walking around London with inspirating thoughts and plotlines for Oliver and the Food Glorious Food Legend of London.
Thank you john for a really interesting video.
Watched in 2022. Really enjoyed! Your hair is so long here. You old hippy lol. Forgive saw your hair and lost my train of thought!! I need to watch some more of John's classic walks! Nice to see John walking in ye olden days gone by.
Film critics dubbed Jane March the 'Sinner from Pinner' after her performance in 'The Lover'.
"The North Circular is a key feature of any Walk outside of London...you've got cross it at some point....somewhere.....!!!" John Rogers, 7th of September in Two Thousand and Seventeen. Stay safe John where ever and when ever you are....a salvation through Lock down you have been. Thx2YU and a few others!
Well done John. Very interesting video. I was born in Harrow, but moved to Wiltshire when I was 7, so I only remember Harrow and Wealdstone from fleeting visits as a child. Unfortunately, none of my relatives lived in the area any more, having all passed away or moved on to pastures new.
Lovely interesting walk, thanks :)
+Lemenelli thanks Lemenelli
You do all the things which I intend to do one day… but probably never will! Love watching this 😀
Hi John, watching some of your old walks....much prefer your backing music now 😁
Thank's for the journey John, loved those iconic buildings.
+richardgreen1970 thanks Richard- really chuffed to finally visit Pinner Court - Elm Park Court was a wonderful bonus
Thoroughly enjoyed the video, a nice blend of facts and atmosphere. Nearly finished your book, a great read. All the best.
Great walk thx John. I'm a big fan of Betj and Metroland in particular. This is a great companion piece. 👌
11:33 When you were in Harrow, did you put on a straw boater and read a book with your leg cocked at a jaunty angle? Those illustrations are fantastically whimsical!
damn I forgot. Turns out those maps were by a notable 1930's designer called Kupfer-Sachs - I posted them on my blog a few years ago and Icon magazine got in touch to ask if they could feature them in an article about the Metropolitan Green Belt (MGB) www.iconeye.com/opinion/icon-of-the-month/item/10977-the-metropolitan-green-belt
That Mais character sounds a bit like something straight out of an Alexei Sayle sketch. You know, the one where he does his Noel Coward impersonation and starts singing 'If I'd been to public school I'd have such savoir faire.....' Surprised there weren't a load more references to John Betjeman, apart from that picture at the start. You should maybe think of doing some readings from him during the course of one of your walks. Recitations while you ramble in essence....
It certainly was a good video, thanks, your choice and use of music is ace.
+Little Acorns Landscapes many thanks indeed
I haven't personally measured it, :-) but the received wisdom is that Chalfont & Latimer to Chesham is longer than to Amersham. (I am open to correction!)
I remember it as a ten minute ride. But it is a very winding route so I don't suppose the trains are very fast.
So nostalgic - until last year NW2 and surroundings were my home!
Love this!
That was excellent. Rayners Lane was where I lived for a few years so the north west was our area so it was great to see all the names pop up like Pinner and Harrow. I enjoyed the lyrical content of this video as well John so thanks for the walk and hope youre not to knackered.
Thanks very much Jag - I remember you mentioning that fact before. Think I'll head back over that way for another wander, really want to look at the Eastcote Conservation Area. Hope you're well
John Rogers that would be great 👍
BACK IN MID MAY 1971 I WITNESSED AN EX G W R O 6 O PANNIER TANK STEAM LOCO RUNNING AROUND ITS STORES TRAIN AT CIRCA O330 AT RAYNERS LANE, ON THE VERY LAST TWO WEEKS OF STEAM IN USE ON LONDON TRANSPORT SURFACE LINES WHEN I WAS WITH A SMALL GROUP IN A CAR AND THE ENTUSIASTIC NIGHT STATION SUPERVISOR WHO WAS FROM SOUTH WALES LET US ON TO THE STATION IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT TO SEE THIS VERY RARE STEAM SPECTACLE THAT FEW KNEW ABOUT AND WAS ABOUT TO END A FEW WEEKS LATER IN THE MIDDLE OF MAY 1971.ON A FEW OCCASSONS I RECORDED THE STEAM TRAIN COMING FEOM LILLE BRIDGE DEPOT KENSINGTON VIA H SUDBURY HILL AND THE STORES TRAINS HAD TO REVERSE AT RAYNERS LANE IN BOTH DIRECTION TO AND FROM KENSINGTON AND NEASDEN. I WALKED FROM SUDBURY HILL TO WEMBLEY PARK AND ON THE VERY LAST TIME I DID THIS IT WAS THE LAST NIGHT THIS STORES TRAIN WAS STEAM HAULED, UNDER 2 WEEKS FROM THE END OF STEAM ON LONDON TRANSPORT SPECIAL DISPLAY STREAM TRAIN TO MOORGATE. I WITNESSED THE AILING LOCO L 90 EX 7711 COUGHING & SPLUTTERING UP THE STEEP INCLINE FROM WEMBLEY PARK TOWARDS HARROW ON THE HILL FOR THE VERY LAST TIME. THIS TRAIN ONLY HAD TO GO VIA RAYNEERS LANE TO LILE BRIDGE KENSINGTON AND STEAM ON THE UNDERGROUND SURFACE LINES IN LONDON WAS HISTORY.. IN 2 YEARS TIME IT WILL THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE END OF NORMAL STEAM OPERATIOS ON LONDON TRANSPORT RAIL LINES.
I know this will be seen as unacceptable by many but I was kind of amazed how few white people were in the street's in this vid, I often get asked "where are all the English people" (assume they mean white) by newcomers to the country at my work after they have been to London & other major city's.
It's quite amazing the change that has happened over only 60 -70 years after Britain being a white only country for pretty much it's entire history.
I live near Finchley Road
and do you like it there Ali?
Yes, it's a good place. I love your videos John.
What do you do for work?
that's good to hear Ali. Work? Well whatever comes my way, I make videos for people, I do some social media training, some public speaking etc. - it's a precarious existence but I enjoy it
Chesham to Chalfont is longer?
Yes.
Did you find somewhere to drink in Northwood? I can't think of any pubs there now.
Yes a nice free house not far from the station with live music- looked like a popular place
Misty Moon is a decent pub.
And in childhood we had coal delivered